Improv actor and comic Stephen Colbert leaves his “The Colbert Report” character behind as he makes his long-awaited return to television. As the host of The Late Show franchise redux — taped at the historic Ed Sullivan Theatre at New York — Colbert talks to actors, athletes, politicians, comics, artists and musicians as himself for the first time. Loyal fans, however, will also be treated to consistency as Colbert remains backed by many members of his writing and digital team from his former venture. Julliard-trained Jon Batiste serves as the bandleader.

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When his mom deposits him at the Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn to spend the summer with the grandfather he’s never met, young Flik may as well have landed on Mars. Fresh from his cushy life in Atlanta, he’s bored and friendless, and his strict grandfather, Enoch, a firebrand preacher, is bent on getting him to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Only Chazz, the feisty girl from church, provides a diversion from the drudgery. As hot summer simmers and Sunday mornings brim with Enoch’s operatic sermons, things turn anything but dull as people’s conflicting agendas collide.